The 18th annual Genart Film Festival, running October 3-6, 2013, has announced its lineup of short and feature films. From the official press release:

Genart announced today the lineup for the 18th Annual Genart Film Festival (“GAFF”) taking place in New York at AMC Loews Village 7 (66 3rd Avenue). GAFF will debut on Thursday, October 3 and run through Sunday, October 6, 2013. Individual tickets and full festival passes ($20 –$120) are on sale now at festival.genart.com, and include access to an in-theater pre-cocktail hour, film premiere and after-party.

This year the Genart Film Festival has taken on a new format for the first time in 18 years, moving from seven days of seven feature films and seven short films, to a four-day weekend festival of eight shorts and eight features. GAFF will kick off with And After All, a short film from notable fashion photographer turned filmmaker Julian Ungano, followed by the New York premiere of Emoticon. The weekend will close with Oscar Nominee, Guillermo Arriaga and Dan Carrillo’s short film Zero Hour, and a feature film, to be announced. The 16 selected films include performances from actors such as Camilla Belle, Sonia Braga, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Cary Elwes, Karen Black and more.

Marc Lotenberg, CEO of Genart, said “It’s time to revamp our festival to ensure we’re constantly pushing the boundaries and maintaining an innovative experience for our independent filmmakers and guests. This year we’re taking on more of a rogue approach geared towards millennials that will be reflected in our film lineup and overall experience.”

Fancy Pants Wine will present the upcoming 2013 Genart Film Festival in New York along with Uber and Warner Bros. Records as supporting partners.

Features

Emoticon
Director: Livia De Paolis
(Romantic Comedy/Drama) Elena Gallenti is an anthropology graduate student struggling to complete her thesis on ‘modern means of communication.’ All that changes when she meets her new boyfriend’s teenage kids, who are going through their own journeys of self-discovery. Through these relationships and the help of her PHD advisor, Elena comes to a better understanding of how to navigate love and intimacy in the digital age. Ultimately they develop a bond that strikes a balance between the old world and the new, and everyone’s longing to find true emotional sense in both. Cast: Livia De Paolis, Sonia Braga, Michael Cristofer, Carol Kane, Christine Ebersole, Diane Guerrero, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Miles Chandler

A Song Still Inside
Director: Gregory Collins
(Drama) A Song Still Inside follows Mike, a young, under-employed father struggling with fatherhood and with his wife’s success. As Maggie’s career flourishes, Mike finds himself spending more and more time at home caring for their 9-month old son. With his professional options dwindling, Mike takes matters into his own hands, endangering both his marriage and his son in the process. As jealousies and resentments build, Mike is forced to confront fundamental questions about his life, his hopes, and his dreams. An intimate exploration of evolving gender roles in today’s nuclear family, A Song Still Inside offers a fresh look at the modern work/family dilemma. Cast: Rodrigo Lopresti, Susan Highsmith

The Warrior and the Savior
Director: Salvatore Sorrentino
(Drama) Orphaned by A.I.D.S., South African children Ibutho and Umsindisi Silongo try to make a fresh start in the United States. What they do not know is that their struggles are far from over. Cast: Thamela Mpumlwana, Shecinah Mpumlwana, Judi Beecher

The Discoverers
Director: Justin Schwarz
(Comedy) Three generations, two centuries remixed, one dysfunctional family: The Discoverers is a bittersweet comedy starring Griffin Dunne about a family forced on a Lewis and Clark historical reenactment trek who discover themselves and each other as they make their own passage across America. Cast: David Rasche, Dreama Walker, Cara Buono, Ann Dowd, Devon Graye, Becky Ann Baker, Stuart Margolin, Madeleine Martin, Scott Adsit, John C. McGinley

The Bounceback
Director: Bryan Poyser
(Comedy) Breaking up is hard to do. Desperate and lonely, when Stan learns that his ex, Cathy, will be in Austin for the weekend, he hops on the first flight to the Lone Star State with hopes of “accidentally” running into her there. Little does he know that another breakup crisis will greet him in Austin between his friends Jeff and Kara. Cavorting through Austin’s honkytonks, nightclubs, and a cutthroat air-sex competition, the two former couples find bouncing back from heartache to be unexpectedly complicated. An outrageous but heartfelt comedy, THE BOUNCEBACK is Bryan Poyser’s follow-up to the hit Sundance film, LOVERS OF HATE. Cast: Ashley Bell, Michael Stahl-David, Sara Paxton

She Loves Me Not
Director: Brian Jun & Jack Sanderson
(Drama) Cary Elwes stars as Brady Olinson, a famous reclusive novelist whose drinking undermines his plans at reviving his career and saving his mansion. The story unfolds in three vignettes, each a different genre and each featuring strong women with their own agendas whom Brady cannot resist. Charlotte, Brady’s young assistant creates drama when she puts her foot down on Brady’s lies. Beth and Amy bring Brady a chance at happiness through romance, while Marcy and Karla take Brady down a dark path to the worst day of his life. Cast: Cary Elwes, Lisa Edelstein, Caitlin Keats, John Robinson, Karen Black

Swim Little Fish Swim
Director: Ruben Amar
(Coming of Age) Maggie? Rainbow? Leeward and Mary cannot even agree on their three year old daughter’s name anymore. Mary is a hardworking nurse who dreams of only one thing: changing her life. She resents her husband for being an irresponsible, overgrown adolescent, incapable of holding down a job. Leeward is an atypical, idealistic musician who fancies himself a misunderstood artist and a New Age visionary. Enter Lilas, a 19-year-old French artist and the daughter of a world famous painter, who is trying to make it in New York and get away from an overbearing mother. When the bubbly young woman moves into the couple’s tiny Chinatown apartment, their already fragile balance is upset even further. Between surrealism, unusual characters, art and magic tricks, Swim Little Fish Swim is a dreamlike journey from childhood to adulthood.

Short Films

Out of Reach
Director: Cyrus Stowe & Tucker Capps
(Drama) Filmmaker Cyrus Stowe, a rising senior at a Dallas high school, sets out to uncover the growing problem of friends sharing and abusing prescription medications in his hometown.

And After All
Director: Julian Ungano
(Drama) Charlotte moved to New York City from her small New England town at a young age to pursue a life as an artist. After years of working and on the eve of her first major solo exhibition, she struggles to keep up as the center of attention and faces betrayal by her best friend Lux and boyfriend Sam. Charlotte is shocked when she hears the news that her mother has suddenly passed away. Truly alone for the first time and questioning her path in life, she ventures home in a search for clarity. Cast: Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Victor Kubicek, Byrdie Bell

Joan’s Day Out
Director: Ellen Houlihan
(Comedy) A grandmother escapes her assisted living facility to bail her teenage granddaughter out of jail. Cast: Sally Kellerman, Tara Lynne Barr, Betsy Franco

Eden
Director: Todd Cobery
(Sci-Fi/Thriller) Eden is an apocalyptic short film that follows a family of terrorists who infiltrate a government bunker only to find things worse than they’d even imagined.

VARMiNT
Director: Joel Knoernschild
(Comedy) The death of child-hood: Director Joel Knoernschild’s powerful and moving short film VARMiNT pits an innocent youth against the harsh practicalities of adulthood in this unique coming-of-age story where comedy and deep-heartbreak ensue. Cast: Kai Lennox, Ian Hamrick, Chase Ford

Top Floor
Director: Aaron David Defazio
(Drama) When a high-powered hedge fund manager finds out that his biggest investor may be pulling out of the fund, his world begins to collapse on him, as he juggles fatherhood, his ex-wife, and one very big secret. Cast: Julie Begey Seureau, Leah Curney, Jared David

YOUNG(ish)
Director: Renée Felice Smith
(Comedy/Drama) During an afternoon at the beach, an elderly couple transports back to their childhood through the help of a wooden, playground pirate ship. When their adult children come to collect them, the cyclical nature of life is exposed. Cast: Cady Huffman, Hunt Block, Alvin Epstein

Zero Hour
Director: Dan Carrillo Levy
(Drama) Lorenzo and Paula are traveling on a straight road that seems to lead nowhere through a vast, empty desert. Their own personal paths instantaneously split, but they are still intertwined by this sudden and resounding event. What happens as they stall on this lonely highway will not only challenge the two lovers relationship, but it will also create a moral struggle within that could change them personally, forever. Cast: Jaime Camil, Camilla Belle

Follow updates regarding the Genart Film Festival on Twitter (@Genart) and through the festival’s hashtag: #genartfilmfest.

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New England Underground Film Festival Seeks EntriesThe New England Underground Film Festival is now seeking entries for its 5th annual event, to be held October 3 at the University of Hartford’s Gray Conference Center, located in West Hartford, Connecticut. Programmed by Film Threat’s Phil Hall, this festival celebrates the best in contemporary underground cinema. The final deadline for entries is July 15; entry information is online at http://newenglanduff.webs.com.